Toyota has just announced that it has just set a new electric car lap record on the 12.93 mile Nürburgring Nodschleife race track in Germany, beating the previous record by a full 1 minute and 13 seconds.

Built by Toyota and based on a Radical sportscar, the all-electric two-seat race car set a time of 7 minutes and 47.79 seconds -- similar to lap times set by cars like the Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 Turbo, Chevrolet Corvette C5 and BMW M3 CSL.

Powered by a pair of Evo Electric motors producing 280 kilowatts of power and 590 pound-feet of torque, the purpose-built racer can accelerate from 0-60 mph in a little under 4 seconds and can reach a top speed of 161 mph.

As well as being fast, the racer can go the distance with an impressive non-racing range of up to 124 miles, thanks to two lithium-ceramic battery packs built by Li-Tech.

Totaling 41.5 kilowatt-hours in capacity, the battery packs have a nominal output of 6 kilowatts and are charged via two individual 16 amp level 2 chargers in about 8 hours. pro

Why build the racer? Apart from setting a new lap record, Toyota Motorsport’s Alistair Moffitt says the prototype is all about developing Toyota’s electric drivetrains.

“The project gives TMG a valuable chance to test our high-performance electric powertrain in a real motorsport environment so we can study durability and ultimate performance,” he told us earlier today. “ Naturally, electric vehicles behave differently depending on the driving style and there is no tougher track than the Nordschleife so we will learn a lot about cooling, battery performance, motor performance and so on. It is particularly interesting to see how the elements of TMG’s electric powertrain perform at full throttle as this will provide very good information to correlate with our simulations.”

Wow 7 minutes 47 seconds! They creamed Peugeot's time, I think this really shows how fast EV tech is growing, Peugeot set their lap earlier this year and here we are late summer and there is already a new record lap. Congratulations Toyota!!

Jason M. Hendler
Posted: 8/30/2011 12:11pm PDT

CDspeed, the Peugeot EX1 was not designed to be a hairpin racer, but to demonstrate low drag aerodynamics in a reasonably conventional package (with doors, windows, etc.). Other, more conventionally designed EV's couldn't catch the EX1, including one that place well in the X prize competition.
Toyota wisely selected the Radical SR8 sportscar configuration, which currently holds the top 2 internal combustion engine records on this very track, so it is a purpose built electric vehicle for this track alone. Please don't disparage the gorgeous Peugeot EX1 - it wasn't designed for this track.
If you look at wiki's lap time list, you will see that this EV is still a full minute behind the same chassis powered by an internal combustion engine.

CDspeed
Posted: 8/30/2011 1:54pm PDT

My comment was solely based on the EV lap time record, I'm getting sick and tired of explaining my comments to people who don't get what I'm saying. I'm well aware that there is a huge difference between the two cars, but the fact that we're seeing the record set twice in one year is fantastic, my comment was not a comparison. Personally I love the Peugeot EX1 enough that I'm thinking of importing one if it goes into production.

Jason
Posted: 8/31/2011 10:16am PDT

CDspeed - "They creamed Peugeot's time" - that's disparaging of the Peugeot EX1. Regardless of what you intended, your statement was critical of the Peugeot EX1, and I'm simply asking you not to do that, given the intent of the designs. A more apt comparison is between Toyota's EV and the two record holders, which share the same chassis.

CDspeed
Posted: 8/31/2011 11:32am PDT

Yeah they creamed Peugeot's time, time, it was a lap time comment!!! I didn't say creamed that stupid Peugeot, I didn't say that!! And I was never comparing the two cars!!! You are taking the comment too seriously and making it sound like there is more there then there actually is!